The Red Haired Girl and the Boy Who Waited
by Pickwick12
Summary: Amy and Rory's tempestuous, beautiful, romantic relationship from their meeting as children through the end of series 5. I will upload two chapters a day, one from each of their perspectives, set at around the same time. Enjoy!
1. Seven Years Old

Amy Pond is seven years old.

She lies under the huge tree in the abandoned lot and stares up at the blue sky. Her arm is twisted at a weird angle, but she doesn't feel any pain, just a curious emptiness. Aunt Sharon is standing over her, yelling, but Amy can't hear her too well, like she's far away in a tunnel.

"Get some help!" The words her aunt is shrieking finally make their way into Amy's comprehension. The Ledworth butcher, Mr. Thorndyke, and the deputy policeman run over and stare down at her as if she's an insect specimen pinned to a board, before rushing away yelling something about the doctor.

Amy tries to get up, but her arm hurts, and her back hurts, and she sinks back down into the grass, her brain finally recalling the curious feeling of being high among the branches and suddenly finding herself pummeling through the air and onto the ground with a dull thud.

Now she's scared. She can't move, and Aunt Sharon is standing near her, crying, not saying anything at all. She closes her eyes.

"I'll stay with her if you want to go for help, Ma'am." The boy's voice is calm, polite, gentle. Amy feels calloused fingers lightly touch the palm of her uninjured hand.

"Don't move. It's better if you don't move." She looks up, and her eyes meet those of a very ordinary-looking boy a little older than she is.

"I'll be right back, Amelia," says Aunt Sharon, choking back tears.

Amy smiles at the boy, no longer afraid. "What's your name?"

"Rory."


	2. First Day

First Day

Rory knew she was the girl for him the first time he saw her. She was yelling—pretty characteristic, really. Yelling at her Aunt Sharon about how much she wanted to go back to Scotland, how much she hated this stupid town with stupid houses and a stupid pond with no ducks.

Amy Pond was a pickpocket. The way she squared her little shoulders and flipped her unruly red hair took something away from him that he was powerless to keep. He didn't know until later that what she took was his heart.

He only knew that he wanted to be her friend, and he didn't care one whit what anyone thought. What Amy wanted, he would do. If she wanted him to stand on his head, he would practice until he could do it right. If she called him "stupid" he would wait out the storm. Anything to tease her into a laugh and take away the look in her eyes that tore at him even though he didn't know what it meant.


	3. Ten Years Old

Amy Pond is ten years old.

With crazy hair and a shirt that's seen about a hundred too many paint stains, she runs out of the house to meet the people coming up the walk, ignoring Aunt Sharon's exhortations to slow down and act normal.

"Hello, Amy love," says Mrs. Williams, smiling with a twinkle in her eye. Amy grins at her before sticking her tongue out at Rory, whose bony arms poke out of his t-shirt and make her think of a crab's pinchers. Mrs. Williams turns to go into the house and starts making small talk with Aunt Sharon even before she's all the way inside.

"Come on, Moron," Amy says loudly, wanting to sound impressive. Rory stares at her for a moment and then follows. She can't tell if he's afraid or impressed or what. She leads him to the shed at the back of the house.

"I've made some new drawings." She shoves a stack of papers into Rory's hand, and he looks through them. "Go change, so we can act them out."

With a shrug, Rory goes behind the sheet draped in the middle of the shed, and Amy sits down on an old oil can with a smirk on her face, waiting. Her smirk turns to a grin as soon as Rory emerges, dressed in one of his father's old dress shirts and a necktie Amy made from one of Aunt Sharon's sashes. Today, they act out the scene with the crack in the wall and the apple.

As afternoon turns to evening, Amy hears Aunt Sharon's voice yell for her and Rory to come inside. "All right, Aunt Sharon. We'll be there in a minute." She wanders outside while Rory changes back into his jeans and t-shirt.

"…and I have no idea why a smart kid like your son is willing to dress up like a character from my poor niece's imagination." Aunt Sharon's voice wafts through the window, and Amy creeps closer to listen.

"I wouldn't worry about that. My son knows what he's doing. He's good at fixing what's broken."

Amy doesn't understand what Mrs. Williams means, but when Rory comes out and stands next to her, she smiles at him and takes his hand.


	4. First Time

First Time

Rory didn't know what it was like not to have parents, not to have warm, safe people to tuck you in at night and ask you how your day was. That's why he said yes to the strangest of requests. Even as a kid, he knew it was weird—dressing up as his best friend's imaginary friend, a magical man with a flying box and tattered clothes, but Rory Williams couldn't refuse.

He wanted to say no, to cross his arms and tell the determined little person in front of him that he wasn't going to be her doll, wasn't going to act out her imaginary world, but something stopped him—the way she said "the Raggedy Doctor," as if she'd finally found someone to love, someone who also loved her. As if she felt a little less alone.

So he put on the clothes, and he acted out the scenes, and she was happy. For a few short minutes, she looked at him with pure love and pure trust in her eyes, and he tried to be her hero. He knew it wasn't enough, but he hoped it was something.


	5. Thirteen Years Old

Amy Pond is thirteen years old.

"I don't know what to do," sobs Aunt Sharon, not caring that her niece is listening in the next room. "She's gone through four psychiatrists, and no one else wants to see her. Why can't she get over her imaginary friends like normal children? She's a teenager, for goodness' sake." The words degenerate into blubbering, and Amy sits on floor with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"It's all right. It's all right." Mrs. Williams's voice is a soothing contrast to Aunt Sharon's. "I'll send Rory over. That always helps."

Amy is still sitting in the same position an hour later when she hears feet behind her. She looks around, expecting to see a furious or hysterical Aunt Sharon on the warpath, but instead she sees a pair of concerned eyes staring out of a thin face.

Without speaking, Rory sits down beside her and wraps a long arm around her, an arm that feels surprisingly strong for its size. She leans against him and closes her eyes and thinks of nothing.

After this, he comes over every day.

Three months later, Amy hears Aunt Sharon talking on the phone while she's getting ready for school. "I don't know what happened," she says. "It's like that last setback was a turning point for the better. It's been ages since she's had an incident. I guess we can do without a psychiatrist after all."


	6. First Wish

First Wish

They said Amy Pond was disturbed. Enough detentions and suspensions and trips to the doctor—the brain kind—and people don't just start talking; they never stop. Somehow, it seemed, all of Ledworth made a decision. Amy Pond wasn't one of them. They might be afraid of her, but they didn't have to accept her.

The funny thing was, the more everyone else shunned her, the closer he wanted to be and the more determined he became to stay with her and be her friend and take care of her. He started to like being called stupid. It meant he'd succeeded in drawing her out, making her notice that the world was bigger than the pain and confusion inside.

If he made Amy Pond's world a little bigger, that was enough for him.


	7. Sixteen Years Old

Amy Pond is sixteen years old.

"Should I wear it up or down?" she asks, holding up cascades of red hair and surveying herself in the mirror.

"Um…" says Rory, fidgeting behind her.

"Which is it, stupid? I want Jeff to think I look good for our first date." Amy smirks at herself and spins around dramatically, showing off her miniskirt and boots.

Rory looks her up and down, his eyes narrowing.

"Are you checking me out?" Amy asks, rolling her eyes.

"No, I was just thinking that's a very…revealing outfit."

"So?" Amy's voice is a little bit brittle, a little bit defensive.

"Down. Wear it down," Rory answers, as if that was the question.

Amy huffs her way out the door, annoyed. Why did Rory's opinion have to bother her?

An hour later, Amy huddles in the Ledworth library, between the stacks. The truth is, Jeff stood her up, never planned to go out with her at all. She was just crazy Amy Pond, easy Amy Pond, tacky Amy Pond in her new skirt and makeup. Amy Pond, the girl whose new boyfriend was out with another girl. She wanted to cry, but instead she yelled a string of expletives in Jeff's face and ran to the library, taking refuge in the darkest corner of the top floor, alone and safe from the glances.

After a while, she takes out her cell phone, the one Aunt Sharon insisted on buying for her "for safety," she said.

"Hello?" His voice is thick, and Amy can tell he's been napping.

"Rory?"

"What is it?" he's instantly on alert.

"I should've worn it up." She wishes her voice wouldn't shake, but she can't help it.

That night, she sits at the kitchen table in the Williams house, and she cries, her new mascara running down her face. Rory sits across the table, not saying anything, not even thinking "I told you so." She can tell by his eyes.

After a while, he hands her a tissue, and she looks up and smiles through her tears. "Thanks, Rory."

He looks at her for a minute, blushing. "Uh, Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you decide to call me?"

"I knew you'd come."


	8. First Sight

First Sight

Amy grew up gorgeous, not that it mattered to him. He would have loved her in any form. But she wasn't just anyone. She was stunning, like the girls on the pages of the magazines he gave out when he volunteered at the hospital. Rory could hardly look at her without feeling his stomach lurch. How had his friend become a beauty?

He didn't blame her when she went out with other guys and used her looks to get the acceptance she'd never had. He didn't blame her, but he couldn't help showing how he felt. He knew it irritated her, and something in him was glad.

He was plain old Rory, boring Rory, routine Rory, and he knew it. But if she cared what he thought, maybe that was something. Maybe somehow, somewhere, he had a little place in her heart. So he waited, and when she needed him, he came, just like he always had.

The change was so gradual he didn't notice until it was complete, until the day he realized she never seemed to need anyone else any more.


	9. Nineteen Years Old

Amy Pond is nineteen years old.

She blinks back tears as the Doctor disappears without so much as a second glance, raggedy no more, the only evidence of his presence the square-shaped depression in the grass where the Tardis once rested. Her childhood dream, gained and lost again. At least no one thinks she's crazy any more, not that it's much consolation.

She turns around and sees Rory, her eyes wet and blazing. "What does that idiot think he's doing, going off again? I could kill him!" Rory comes toward her and tries to pull her close, but she pushes him away.

"I'm still here," is all he says as she finally rests her head on his shoulder, trembling with anger.

"I know you are, Idiot. You never go anywhere."

"I never go anywhere," he echoes, rubbing her back.

After a while, she looks up and touches his nose, his ridiculous oversized nose.

"Don't go anywhere, Rory."


	10. First Ache

First Ache

The Raggedy Doctor was real. Rory could hardly pull himself together enough to speak when he saw him. The aliens, the zombie patients, and the mortal peril seemed almost insignificant compared to the realization that Amy was right all along.

He was too real. So real that Amy wouldn't stop looking at him, wouldn't stop following him, wouldn't stop hanging on his every word. Rory wanted to throttle him, but you can't throttle a hero. You also can't measure up to one. He felt powerless to make her see him again, to look past the brilliant, handsome hero of her dreams and back into his eyes, but he wouldn't leave, not as long as she might need him.

When the Raggedy Doctor failed her again, his arms were the ones that pulled her close, his shirt the one stained with her tears. He knew he could never compete, but he could be the one who was there. So he stayed.


	11. Twenty One Years Old

Amy Pond is Twenty-One Years Old

She watches the doors of hope closing on her best friend, the one who came back for her, even if he was twelve years too late. Maybe her whole life, she's been bleeding from the inside. But she is not alone.

"Shut up, then" she snaps to the plastic soldier, the man who waited 2,000 years, begging him to shut off the torrent of unbearable thoughts in her head, the unendurable pain. And Rory does what he always does. He takes her in his arms and holds her, and she knows something for the first time.

She can live without the Raggedy Doctor.


	12. First Light

First Light

Days and nights and faces swam around him, year after year of crates and ships and tours and danger. Always the box, never forgetting. The centurion stayed at his post, forcing his mind to hold a single thought—a picture of the face inside the box, the most beautiful hair in the world, the eyes that could scare him to death with one look, the irresistible lips. Amy. His Amy.

And then his twilight turned to dawn.

It wasn't seeing her again, kissing her again, feeling her arms around him. It wasn't smelling her hair or holding her hand or hearing her voice. It wasn't even the knowledge that his long wait was forever over.

No, Rory's light came when the whole universe went dark. "Shut up, then," she said, in a brittle voice, near tears, but then she looked at him. Amy looked at him, and in her eyes he saw the little girl. Echoed in her present pain, he saw the pain of all the years of loneliness and sadness, and she gave it all to him. In that moment, she was finally his.

Rory held her as tightly as he could, and the world seemed lighter than it ever had before.


	13. Grown

Amy Pond is grown.

She glides across the dance floor in the arms of the man of her dreams. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the Raggedy Doctor, dapper in white tie and tails, but he's not her man.

She feels Rory's hand in hers, as gentle as it was the day he touched her for the first time—the day she fell out of the sky. She feels his arms around her, as sure as they've always been—her comfort, her safest place. She hears his voice whisper in her ear, and it's the voice of her friend, her brother, her psychologist, her champion.

Her plastic soldier, the best man she's ever known.

The Doctor will always be Amelia Pond's favorite fairy tale, a little girl's dream, the good wizard who makes the world exciting and beautiful and a little bit dangerous. A sorcerer with ancient eyes.

But Rory is her man, and he always will be.


	14. First Love

First Love

"You're a thief, Rory Williams," whispered a voice in his ear.

He put an arm around the woman in front of him and pulled her onto the dance floor, bringing his face close to hers. "Why do you say that, Amy Pond?" he asked, his eyes narrowing in mock indignation.

"You took the most important thing I've ever had," she whispered, grinning and grabbing him in a kiss before he could answer.

As they danced, he remembered so many days—the slow summers in Ledworth, the mad dream-life in the Doctor's Tardis, the endless dark of waiting. His story. The story of a plastic soldier who dared to love a princess.

After a long while, when the music slowed and the other dancers melted away, Amy took his face in her hands. "You took my heart, Stupid. You took it a long time ago, and you never gave it back." Rory held her tightly, held her against him so she wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.

Maybe she wasn't a pickpocket after all, that little Scottish girl. She gave just as much as she took. And maybe some stories are different than we think.

Sometimes, he thought, when we least expect it, a plastic soldier can be a hero.

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><p><strong>AN: This is the end. Thank you so much for reviewing and enjoying the story. If you have a minute, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for being on this journey with me and with these two wonderful characters. **


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